Under the Eye
by brightspark
Summary: Trust, the lack of it, and what happens when you find out people aren't really your friends for your own sake. QuistisxRinoa.


Rinoa looks up from contemplating her plateful of fries when Quistis pulls out a chair, and tries to smile as Quistis sits down opposite her. She needn't have bothered: Quistis noticed the glum look the moment she stepped into the cafeteria, and had determined to come and sit next to her since she noticed she was alone approximately three milliseconds later. "Hey, Quistis."

"Hi," Quistis says, reaching out to steal a fry from Rinoa's plate. Healthy salad is one thing, but you do get tired of tasteless, soggy lettuce, and definitely sick of juicily overripe tomatoes. "What's wrong?"

"Oh," Rinoa says, caught, and then shakes her head, pushing back her dark hair and focusing again on her food. "Nothing."

Quistis studies her for a moment, thinking back to all her lessons on reading people, all the extra and entirely unnecessary reading she did on the subject. And then she discounts that and thinks about what she knows about Rinoa. "How're your lessons?"

"How do you do that?"

Quistis smiles just a little. "Luck. What's wrong with your lessons? Don't you like your instructor?"

"No, it's not that..." Rinoa sighs softly. "I was telling myself I wasn't going to complain about this, just now, because people are going to get bored of it, but... I feel really behind all the others. They've all been training for this so long and they know where they're going and... I didn't even really want to do this, I don't know why I let Squall persuade me. I feel like they think I'm an idiot..."

She shakes her head, reaching across to cover Rinoa's hand with her own, a comforting and meaningless gesture to make her feel that little bit better. "It's to help you protect yourself, you know that. Your powers could get you in danger and it's best to have more than one way of defending yourself. If you rely on sorcery too much, you can be sure that -- "

"Someone will find out my weakness and exploit it at a critical moment," Rinoa says, quickly, and nods. "I know, I just... I don't like the training. Seifer taught me everything I know, and he was -- he was kind of strict with me, but there weren't all these _rules_..."

"Welcome to Garden," Quistis says, amusement quirking her mouth. "You get used to it."

"Well, it's not just that -- "

"I know," she says, and smiles at Rinoa, and tries not to think about how this is one more layer of the SeeD strangeness for Rinoa, even if she doesn't _know_. "If you want me to help you, I'd be only too happy to do a couple of sessions in the training center with you every week. But you can't be struggling all that much -- your SeeD exam is in a couple of weeks, isn't it?"

"I'd love it if you could help me. The SeeD exam is in three weeks, but I don't _feel_ ready."

"Probably an advantage," Quistis says, musingly. "It means you'll prepare well. And you've fought in proper battles before, far bigger battles than the training center. All you've been doing in these classes is refining your skills."

"Tell that to my instructor," she says, groaning softly and running a hand back through her hair, pushing it out of her way. "Nothing I can do pleases him, because none of my techniques are quite as a SeeD should do them."

Quistis leans closer, like she's confiding some deep trade secret. Her eyes twinkle just a little. "You don't need to have perfect technique to pass the exam."

"Well, no, but..."

"Don't worry," Quistis says, softly, "you're going to pass. I know it."

Rinoa smiles. "Thanks, Quis."

---

It feels strange to visit Squall in his office, even now. After all, it wasn't so long ago that she was his instructor, and now he's the highest ranking SeeD in Garden, as well as being its commander. It wasn't so long ago, too, that she thought he'd rather die than let himself get tied so completely and thoroughly to paperwork and bureaucracy. Maybe that's why she doesn't come here too often, and why the secretary who ushers her in before she even opens her mouth is utterly unfamiliar.

The look on Squall's face -- the mixture of irritation and apathy only he could pull off -- is reassuringly familiar, and Quistis smiles at him as she gives him a brief formal salute, almost expecting him to tell her not to bother. He returns it, briefly, and looks back down at his work.

"Sir?"

"Did you want something, Quistis?" he asks, sighing softly. And then, glancing up: "And _don't_ call me sir. You were my instructor and you're my -- well, we've been through a lot together."

"I'm your friend."

"Yes," he says, looking relieved that she got his point. "That's what I meant."

"I just saw Rinoa in the cafeteria, sat on her own."

She watches for any reaction when she mentions the girl who is, after all, his girlfriend, but there's barely a flicker. He looks down at the work on his desk. "I didn't forget to meet her again, did I?"

She wonders whether he's forgotten to meet Rinoa often. It doesn't seem like Squall, but then, none of this does. Stress, she thinks, and then laughs at the idea of _him_ being overstressed _now_, after the war and everything that came with it for him. "No, she just looked... unhappy. I spoke to her. She said she's having trouble with her lessons and doesn't feel confident enough to take the exam."

"Can you -- "

"I've already arranged to meet her every other day for sessions in the training center."

He nods. "Try not to let her use her sorceress power. And -- good initiative, Quistis."

"I've told her I'll be training her with her weapon, not her power, since weapons are my speciality, not sorcery. I also mentioned that she knows how to use magic automatically, so we don't need to practice that -- it's in her blood, so to speak. I'll keep her practising with her weapon."

He nods again, looking as pleased as he ever does. "Thank you."

"Why don't you have time to do this kind of thing with her?"

There's an uncomfortable pause, and Quistis starts to feel like she's talking to a wall again, just like when he used to be her student. And then he shrugs a little, avoiding her eyes. "I don't really have the time."

"She's your -- "

"I know. As I said, thank you."

Squall seems to think that's the end of it, but Quistis hesitates, not moving to go. He tolerates her presence without saying anything for a moment as he works through the pile and then looks up again, a little more irritated now, and questioning. She takes a deep breath. "She doesn't like it, you know. She doesn't mind not using her powers, I think. It's just -- she's not cut out for SeeD, Squall. Why did you persuade her...?"

"We need to keep her in Garden."

"For observation? Squall -- "

"She's a sorceress. Our duty is to defend the public from the sorceress." He looks up again, expression neutral, and she knows that he really believes what he's saying -- has no idea how much Rinoa would resent it if she found out. "I'm doing it for everyone's sake. She'd understand."

"You should trust her."

"I don't trust anybody," he says, on reflex, and then looks away. After a moment Quistis nods.

"I'll keep an eye on her," she says, and then turns on her heel and leaves Squall to his work and duty, letting the door shut behind her and ignoring the cheerful farewell from the secretary.

---

When Quistis looks up from the pile of marking -- not hers, no, a favour to Xu -- she finds that somehow it became one in the morning without her realising, and that her neck aches badly. She gets up, covering a yawn with her hand, and reaches up to let her hair down, figuring it's plenty late enough to go to bed, especially with such an achy neck from looking down at the exam papers and the various variations on the usual untidy scrawl.

She stops when she hears a knock on the door, frowning with puzzlement. It's not an urgent kind of knock -- quiet and certainly not enough to wake even the most paranoid SeeD from sleep, and thus, ignorable with a perfect excuse -- but still... She goes to answer it.

Rinoa stands there, hands behind her back and a sheepish expression on her face. She scuffs the polished floor of the corridor in her usual habit and looks up at Quistis half-shyly. "Do you have time to come to the training center with me now?"

"At this time?"

She nods. Lets that hang between them for a moment before shrugging. "It doesn't matter, if -- "

Quistis interrupts her, wondering what exactly has caused the shadows of unhappiness on her face, and wondering if it's really any of her business to wonder. Still -- she _is_ Rinoa's friend. Not just her watchdog. "I'll go with you, it's okay. I was going to go to bed, but I've been marking some exam papers... it'd be nice to blow off some steam. Let me grab my whip."

They walk through Garden more or less silently. Rinoa barely looks at her, despite asking for the company, and Quistis wonders if it's a simple matter of being afraid to go alone. But no: Rinoa's not a _coward_. And she normally smiles, and right now, she isn't smiling, and nor is she chattering away as usual. She doesn't even really say anything as they dodge a Garden Faculty and slip into the training center.

"Ready?" Quistis asks, and she just nods.

The first few battles are easy -- Grats, and a Bite Bug. Slowly, they work their way through the training center, peering ahead through the greenery and simulated light to check for anything big that they really don't want to be surprised by.

"Squall's had some new monsters added, I hear," Quistis says, stepping over something that looks suspiciously like Grat shit. She wrinkles her nose a little at the smell and lengthens her stride a little to move away from it. She glances at Rinoa, seeing that she looks far away and thoughtful. Frowning, she reaches out and pinches her arm. "Hey, you can't start daydreaming in here. It's dangerous."

"Sorry, I was just -- sorry."

"We might as well take a break, though. The Rexaurs will find us, eventually, if we stay in one place, and they're the only thing that will really put up a fight as far as I know. Squall couldn't risk having something like Malboros in here. Some little cadet..."

"Yeah," Rinoa says, absently.

"Alright, what's wrong?"

"What?"

Quistis laughs a little. "Coming to the training center to work out your frustrations? Squall used to do that all the time. I didn't think it seems very like you, but you look upset and it _is_ nearly oh-two-hundred."

Rinoa scuffs at the floor a little, sighing. "Sorry if I disturbed your evening."

"It's okay," Quistis says, and somehow, it is. "But what is it?"

"Well... you're right, it's what Squall does when he's annoyed. I just... I thought it'd help. We argued, you see. He's still in his office now, working away. It's like he doesn't really care about me, he just wants to work... all day, all night..." She shrugs slightly. "I guess I'm asking too much of him, but still, I want... It's probably my fault anyway, I know I always used to kind of nag at him."

Quistis puts a hand on her shoulder, surprised at the easy way she blames herself. "Part of it is just... Squall being himself, I think. He's always been like this. He told me to go talk to a wall, once. He does love you."

"Does he?"

"Rinoa..."

Rinoa straightens up and shakes her head, smoothing down her jacket. "Come on, I think I can hear a T-Rexaur coming."

"Rinoa," Quistis says, and reaches out to grab her wrist, pulling her closer. And then, awkwardly, she puts her arms around her waist and gently pulls her closer, holding her tightly like she used to hug Selphie, but so long ago, back in the Orphanage. Rinoa stays awkward, surprised, for a moment, and then smiles and hugs back.

"Thanks, Quisty."

"You can always talk to me, you know?"

Rinoa laughs, hugging her again, tightly, and then pulling away and pulling out her weapon again. "Thanks. Never thought I'd hear you saying something like that to me. I always thought you thought I was too whiny."

"I did," Quistis says, and then smiles, shaking out her whip. "I don't know. Come on, there really is a Rexaur."

---

"You said I could always come talk to you," Rinoa says, when Quistis opens the door to find her standing there. It's only twenty-one-hundred hours this time, and Quistis isn't marking Xu's students' exam papers this time, and doesn't need to go to bed either, so she nods slightly and lets Rinoa in, waving a hand at the bed for her to sit. Even if she did have things to be doing and needed to sleep, she thinks she would probably react in exactly the same way.

"What's wrong? Did you argue with Squall again?"

"Kind of," Rinoa says, and she sighs. "And I'm nervous about the field exam. It's tomorrow, you know."

"I know," Quistis says, because she's going along herself to be a team leader. She has her suspicions about that, but she doesn't say anything to Rinoa. She doesn't really need -- and probably won't _want_ to know. And she's gotten, well, _fond_ of Rinoa over the last couple of weeks, and even before that... She considers Rinoa to be her friend, and quite a close one. There's no point at all in letting her get hurt.

"I said talk, but I don't really want to talk," Rinoa admits, after a moment. Quistis nods slightly.

"It's okay."

There is work to do, some; so Quistis opens a drawer and takes it out to get on with it. She knows Rinoa is watching her, for a while, and knows too when Rinoa relaxes into sleep. Twenty-two-hundred hours, now, and she realises that she has no idea where she'll sleep, with Rinoa draped over her bed. She laughs at herself, a little, and carries on with the work, hoping Rinoa will wake up eventually, making vague plans to sleep on the floor if she doesn't.

She has a feeling even before she opens the door that the person knocking is Squall. It isn't _quite_ deliberate, the way she blocks him from seeing Rinoa laying there on her bed, but she still has a feeling it's for the best. "Yes?"

"You're going on the field exam tomorrow, right?"

"Yes," she says, knowing he knows perfectly well that she is. And she knows why he's assigned her, and so she nods even before he speaks. "I know. You want me to go with Rinoa, work with her, make sure she doesn't use any of her talents as a sorceress. And to protect her."

"Yes. Keep her from using magic, at all costs."

"She's not some crazy sorceress, you know," Quistis says, unable to help herself. "She's our friend. You -- you're supposed to _love_ her, even."

"She's a potential threat and the sponsors of Garden have asked me to keep an eye on her. That's all I'm doing. My personal relationship with her has nothing to do with anything. I agree with Garden's sponsors. She _is_ a potential threat."

"Don't you realise that you could set her off by always expecting it of her?"

"It's a risk we're willing to take," he says, coolly. He shakes his head. "Oh-nine-hundred, tomorrow morning, by the front gate. You'll be going by airship."

"Yes, sir," she says, because that seems like the right thing to say, and she closes the door in his face spitefully. She has a feeling it doesn't really affect him, that he's simply blinked and turned to walk away. It makes her feel better anyway. She looks over at Rinoa, sleeping peacefully, and at the clock which tells her it's not quite late enough to go to sleep, but not early enough to start on something new. She rifles in a cupboard for a blanket and finds a pillow or two, dropping them on the floor.

Rinoa shifts slightly in her sleep and makes a quiet noise. Quistis has to smile.

For a moment, she contemplates laying on the bed as well, wrapping her arms around Rinoa and curling against her, taking advantage of the company. She reaches down to brush Rinoa's hair away from her face, and then, reminding herself that -- despite all appearances -- Rinoa is perfectly happy with Squall, she moves to lie down on the floor, hoping she won't wake with a kink in her neck or one of the many other punishing consequences of sleeping on the floor.

---

"When we get out of the airship, we'll be in Centra. We'll be dealing with an increased population of monsters. These monsters are too strong for you to handle alone, so you'll be in large groups. You three will make up squad A, you three squad B, and finally, Rinoa, you'll go with Instructor Trepe."

Quistis glances at Rinoa and smiles a little, hoping she's being reassuring. Rinoa's face is a mask of calm, as if she's completely unconcerned with whatever is going on. She nods slightly when she hears her name, but doesn't smile back. She's stroking the edges of her weapon, over and over again, thoughtfully, so that Quistis wonders if she even has any idea that she's doing it.

"I'll be evaluating your performance, of course," she says to her, to bring her into the present. "If you go on as you have during our training sessions, there'll be virtually no point in us coming out here."

"Why am the only one accompanied by an instructor? Why aren't I in a group like the others?"

"The groups are used to working together, and you're most used to working with me. It's not a favour, exactly. You'll be more closely scrutinised than the others. Squall wouldn't hear of any favoritism, you know."

It's the truth. Almost.

"Of course," Rinoa murmurs, her eyes dropping to her weapon again. She sighs softly. "I wish Angelo could've come along. And I wish -- "

Quistis raises an eyebrow at the self-censorship, but she thinks better of actually asking. The airship shudders and groans around them and Quistis looks up to see everyone getting ready, smoothing out uniforms and testing the edges of blades, adjusting gloves, and generally assuming the usual grim expression she's seen on so many cadets' faces. She has to smile a little at that -- and at Rinoa's expression, which is now finally moving into panic as if she's only just realised where she is.

"We're landing?"

She nods, getting out her whip and uncoiling it carefully. Xu, across the room, catches her eye and smiles. "I think so. Get ready. We'll be fighting almost immediately. Have you looked at the area we're to patrol on the map?"

Rinoa shakes her head and quickly moves to do that, frowning slightly at it and trying to memorize it. Quistis takes a last look as well, wishing the airship wouldn't swing around quite so much in the wind. She's good when they're high up in the air and there's less turbulence, but the quick movement and the grinding noises of landing gear clunking into place makes her feel sick every time.

"Got your stock of potions?" she asks, checking her own stock and considering taking one now, just to settle her stomach. In the end, she settles it neatly into place and ignores the urge. She might need them more later.

Glancing at Rinoa now, she feels almost proud. The girl is holding her head up, her posture alert and yet somehow relaxed into it. Hardly the awkward girl who fought beside them at first. She's grown into herself now, more of a young woman than the girl she dismissed as hopeless. And -- it's hardly the first time she's noticed, but Quistis finds herself noticing again that Rinoa is a rather beautiful girl. Their arms brush as they move to the doorway, and she catches herself smiling as if it's a big thing, as if it might mean something.

Of course, she reminds herself, it doesn't. Nothing big, anyway.

"Squad A, advance!" Xu calls out, and the first three move out onto the still descending ramp. They're gone quickly into a haze of sand and heat, and Quistis ties a handkerchief around her face to block out the dust, smiling as Rinoa does the same.

"Ready?"

"Yeah," Rinoa says, and Quistis thinks she's smiling a bit.

"Squad B, advance!"

The second squad advance, as expected, and the two of them move to the doorway. Xu puts her hand on Quistis' arm for a moment.

"Remember orders."

"I will," she says, stung that Squall felt a reminder was necessary. She might like Rinoa -- Rinoa might be her friend -- but she'd still follow orders. Rinoa could be more than that and she'd -- would she?

She shakes the thought away as Rinoa plunges forward into the Centran desert, following her. It doesn't really matter how she feels about her. Orders are orders, and she has to do her job right, or not at all.

---

Quistis can sense the monster coming, somehow, knows it's somewhere off to the right and that she has to get there before Rinoa does, just to make sure that she doesn't end up in any trouble. Not that it really seems to matter if she uses her sorceress power, but -- orders are _still_ orders. Rinoa moves off to the right and Quistis quickens her pace to follow, snapping her whip out at the creature just as Rinoa cries out in warning.

"Careful," she says, half breathless, as she swings her whip again, hitting it hard so that it turns away from Rinoa a little.

"I can take it, you know," Rinoa says, and Quistis thinks she can maybe hear some hurt in her voice. This isn't the first time she's leapt into a battle like this, seemingly defending Rinoa from any harm, and she guesses that she's probably starting to fit the pieces together for herself. She falls back a little.

"I know," she says, and nods slightly, smiling behind the handkerchief that stops her from getting a mouthful of sand everytime she speaks. "One blow from you should do it. You're doing well."

"I'd be doing better if you gave me chance," Rinoa says, softly, raising her weapon and sighting carefully before throwing the Shooting Star. The monster yelps, falling onto its knees, and before Rinoa does anything else, Quistis flicks her whip in its direction again. It stumbles to its feet and runs away, either to die or to nurse its wounds.

Rinoa doesn't say anything, but walks on through the sandy murk. Quistis follows her, knowing that her mind must be racing.

"We should take a rest," she says, and Rinoa nods slightly, pointing ahead to an outcrop of rock.

"We can get out of the wind there."

Quistis nods, following her. "Good idea."

But she's dreading actually talking -- dreading the opportunity to take off the handkerchief guarding her face and actually discuss what's going on. She can tell just from Rinoa's stiff shoulders -- a sure sign of an oncoming tantrum, they used to say, when they were travelling together and trying to end the conflict with Ultimecia -- that Rinoa has at least had a good guess at what is going on.

When they reach the relative shelter of the rock, she unties the handkerchief silently, fumbling in her things for a warm potion and swallowing most of it in one go. "Need one?"

"No."

"Rinoa..."

"You're _protecting_ me, not assessing me."

"No, I -- "

Rinoa frowns slightly, and Quistis thinks -- almost smiling at the thought -- that she's just _this_ far from stamping her foot as she would've done not so long ago. "Quistis, don't lie to me. I thought we were -- I'm your friend, aren't I?"

"Of course you're my friend, I just -- "

"Yes?"

Quistis looks at Rinoa for a long moment, thinking about the way she looked just outside her door the night before, the way she looked when she'd fallen asleep, and the determination on her face now. She thinks of how horribly fond she is of her, and how Squall has no idea what he has, and how Rinoa could do so much if people would only let her, if they'd only trust her. She thinks of how she owes Rinoa the truth.

"I am protecting you, in a way," she says, softly. "Squall's orders. He doesn't want you using your sorceress powers on this mission -- not that he thinks that you'd cheat, and I don't think it really could be cheating even if you did use sorcery. Just... he's worried that you might -- "

Rinoa's voice is edged with hurt. "Turn out like Ultimecia?"

She doesn't know how to answer.

Rinoa's movements are deliberate as she ties the strip of cloth about her face again, her voice full of the same determination as before, but somehow more exclusive now, just for herself. "We need to get back to the airship. We've completed our circuit. We've plenty of time."

Quistis nods slightly.

The walk back to the airship isn't long, and she's glad for that, with Rinoa walking poker-stiff at her side. They join the other two squads and are absorbed in, all walking off towards the airship. She engages herself in talking to another of the cadets, ignoring Rinoa, losing herself in the cheerful relief of the cadets, who all think they've passed. She tries not to think about Rinoa -- until the moment when Xu, greeting them, looks around them with a puzzled air.

"Where's Rinoa?"

It only takes her a moment to figure out what to do.

"I'll go after her," Quistis says. "You go back to Garden. I'll bring her. She completed the exam, so..."

Xu nods, worry on her face. No doubt she's wondering what Squall will think of this, worrying about what will happen when she takes the airship back to Garden and there's no Rinoa. Quistis finds that she really couldn't care less. If she was Rinoa, she'd do exactly the same.

---

It was surprisingly easy to track Rinoa down -- but then, Quistis prides herself on being good at this kind of thing, and this is more important to her than any tracking mission she's taken on before. She stops outside the hotel room down, several hundred gil poorer than when she started from giving bribes, and just a little footsore, and she wonders if Rinoa will even want to talk to her.

After a moment's hesitation -- more than that would be too extravagant -- she knocks on the door.

It opens. Rinoa stands in the doorway, reluctant, and then opens the door all the way and lets Quistis step in. The door closes behind her, and she waits for Rinoa to say something. Anything. Even if it's nothing but an accusation.

"I guess I wouldn't have made a very good SeeD, if you tracked me this easily. But," she bites her lip, looking up through her lashes to catch any change in Quistis' expression, "I would have passed anyway."

"Yes," she admits. "You would."

"Will no one ever trust me again? Just because I'm a sorceress?"

She wants to step forward, put her arms around that tense body, hold Rinoa close and make her feel it's okay somehow. She doesn't. "I will," she says, softly, and then, wondering if she's telling a lie, "Squall does. He loves you."

"He doesn't." Rinoa looks away, biting her lip. "We broke up last night. Before the exam. Just before I came to you."

"You could've told me."

She shrugs. "I could say, 'now you know what it's like not to be trusted', but... I just didn't want to talk about it, Quisty. I still don't want to talk about it. I want to carry on as I was. I want to have friends who care, who trust me... friends like I had back in Timber. Zone and Watts would have done anything for me, you know."

"I know," Quistis says. She wants to add that she, too, would do anything for Rinoa, but the words stick in her throat and besides, she's not sure yet whether that's true or not. She takes a step towards and now she does put her arms around her, pulls her close, so that she can bury her face in her shoulder and maybe draw strength, or at least comfort, from the contact. Rinoa relaxes just a little.

"What should I do?"

Quistis presses her cheek against Rinoa's hair, feeling the smooth silkiness, and closes her eyes. For a moment she thinks about it, and then she tightens her arms around Rinoa. "I have to go back to Garden and tell Squall what has happened."

"No, please -- "

"_You_ should go to the Shumi village. They'll look after you and it's a neutral place. You know some of them, too, sort of." Quistis tightens her arms around Rinoa a little. "Stay there for a while and see what happens."

"But -- "

Quistis pulls back and takes another look at Rinoa, finding herself smiling. "I have to go now. Someone might track me here."

"Quistis..."

"Take care."

She doesn't look back as she leaves the room. She's not sure what she's going to do now -- whether she'll tell Squall exactly what happened, exactly where Rinoa is, and how exactly she's going to get Rinoa in the position of freedom she so longs for. All she knows is that she's got some time to think, some time to make it good, and she's going to do the very best she can.

---

"He's expecting you," the secretary says, as Quistis moves past her towards Squall's office door. She looks like she's relishing the idea of someone getting thoroughly chewed out. Quistis smiles grimly. Really, she's the one with the power in this situation. She's the one that knows where Rinoa is, right now. She opens the door and steps inside, firmly closing the door behind her to keep the nosey secretary out.

"Squall," she says, calmly.

"Quistis," he returns, sitting up a little straighter. "Where is she?"

She takes a deep breath, trying to see any signs on Squall's face that he really does care. Sometimes, she thinks all the feeling has been sucked out of him long before now, and sometimes she blames the work. Sometimes, she doesn't know if he ever felt at all. "I'm not going to tell you."

"What?"

It's almost amusing to see the flicker of dismay on his face: yes, he does feel. Not the same way as she does, though, not about Rinoa, not about Garden, not about anything. "I'm not going to tell you where she is."

"That's -- "

"I'm going to make a deal with you."

He narrows his eyes at her. "I'm still your commander, even if you're my friend, Quistis. You're taking this too far."

"I'm the only one who knows where Rinoa is. And trust me, SeeD spies won't be able to find her." She takes a deep breath. "If you try to kick me out of SeeD, you'll never know where Rinoa is. I'll never tell you. I'll just leave and go to her."

Squall frowns, his forehead furrowing a little. "Then what deal do you want to make?"

Quistis smiles slightly, feeling like she's in control of this, like she's thought this through so completely that nothing can go wrong. It's dangerous, to be cocksure, but she's still as sure as she's ever been about anything that this is the way to go. "It's quite simple. You assign me to the permanent mission of watching over her, being her knight, whatever she needs to stay stable. I'll report to you every few months. I will never, however, tell you where she is."

"Why should I do that? Why would you do that?"

"Because you don't feel anything for Rinoa, you don't care about her as a person -- and I _do_."

His cheeks redden a little, as if she's slapped him. She bites back a smile at that, knowing that he knows that she's figured out the only reason why he let Rinoa think he loved her. And she can tell, too, that he hates the way she's judging him for it -- that, maybe for the first time, he's feeling just a little regret.

"Is it a deal?" she asks, when the silence has stretched taut between them for some time.

Reluctantly, he nods.

---

The Shumi village remains unchanged, somehow; untouched. Quistis smiles as she walks through the gates, nodding to a Shumi she vaguely recognises from previous visits. She looks around for Rinoa, wondering where she is and hoping she's had the sense to stay out of plain view.

She spots a flurry of movement from the corner of her eye -- too fast to be one of the deliberate, amiably slow Shumi. She smiles a little and turns to face Rinoa, startled when she throws her arms around her neck and hugs her tightly. "Quistis! You're here!"

"Yes," she says, and finds herself hugging back, exuberantly tight. She realises that even though she was so sure and certain she could convince Squall, it all felt too surreal to be true. Until now, with Rinoa hugging her tight, almost squeezing the breath out of her. She's smiling happily when Rinoa lets go, prompting a smile in return as Rinoa takes her hand, pulling her over to a typically Shumi kind of building.

"Come on, we can talk quietly in here. None of the Shumi will disturb us. They've been very kind to me."

She notices, as Rinoa closes the door behind them, that Rinoa's face is rather pale, and her eyes still rather worried. She squeezes her hand gently and then disengages, moving to sit down. "I spoke to Squall."

"And?" Rinoa asks, almost breathlessly, sitting down next to her. Their shoulders bump and Quistis bites back another smile.

"It is my lifelong mission to watch over you," she says, and smirks just a little. "I didn't give him much choice."

"He won't like that."

"He doesn't have to. He -- he didn't treat you very well, did he?"

She shrugs slightly, as if reluctant to speak ill of a man she had, after all, probably loved. Or at least, felt _something_ for. "Does it really matter? All that matters is -- well, you're here, and here isn't Garden, and so I'm free. Kind of."

"Garden will never know where you are. Just me."

Rinoa nods slightly. She falls into silence for a moment, as if thinking all this through, and Quistis reaches for her hand and holds it, not sure whether she's reassuring her or seeking reassurance. She strokes the back of Rinoa's hand with her thumb, looking down at her knees, and waiting for her to say something.

"You disobeyed orders, really, didn't you?"

"I suppose so."

"And SeeD is really important to you, isn't it?"

Quistis looks up, meeting Rinoa's eyes and shrugging just a little, helplessly. "I thought it was."

"Thank you, Quistis," Rinoa says, softly, seriously, and then she leans in and kisses Quistis, soft and gentle, and Quistis isn't sure how to feel, except that she's happy, so happy she might burst. She's never felt like it before, never, not on the day she passed her SeeD exam, not on the day they defeated Ultimecia, not the day they celebrated. _Never_.

She pulls back slowly, and finds a real smile tugging at her lips. "Rinoa..."

Rinoa's smile is almost mischievous. She kisses Quistis again. "Ssh. Enough talking and worrying now. We've got a lot of time ahead of us, and all of it away from stupid Balamb Garden, but that doesn't mean we don't have to make the most of every single moment. That's your standing order, or whatever it is."

"Yes, ma'am," she says, mock-meekly, surprised at how easily she relaxes into this. Rinoa elbows her gently and then kisses her again and yes, yes, this is perfect, this is exactly what she's always wanted and never found. 


End file.
